Tough one. Some firms might check your order vs. long positions to ensure you have the stock in house, nonetheless, most don't.
Some people go short v. box (although that phase of IRS is over), some simply go short, some sell the long and then go short. As well, having only cash account wont help as firms where you have a goood relationship will allow you to buy/sell and THEN send in the check.
We have a system that allows me to go into someones account, click on their position and then sell it out, etc. but for the most part it is too slow. I simply take the order and hammer it into the necessary system without looking at cash balances, share balances.
Clearly if little Ms. Jones, called up unsure about how many shares she owned, I would check. But for most people, they are 100% responsible for the orders they give.
If you said "sell 500 IBM" and you only had 300 , you eat the error.
If you said "sell my position in IBM", then you would have to be understanding of the 5 seconds it will take to check your balance.
If you have any desire to being agood trader, you must know your positions, 100%, each and every time.
Regards,
Steve@yamner.com |
